Bojar Iwona, Wojcik-Fatla Angelina, Owoc Alfred, Lewinski Andrzej
Institute of Rural Health, Lublin, Poland.
Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2012;33(4):385-92.
Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene belongs to the group of genes increasing the risk of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) development. The purpose of the study was the analysis of cognitive functions in postmenopausal women having different polymorphisms of APOE gene; battery of computer tests - Central Nervous System Vital Signs (CNS-VS) were employed.
The women were qualified into the examined group on the grounds of clinical symptoms (minimum 2 years after the last menstruation), as well as on the basis of FSH concentration. At the qualification stage, a short test - Montreal Scale of Cognitive Function Assessment (MoCA) was conducted. The assessment of cognitive functions was made with the use of diagnostic CNS-Vital Signs equipment. Genomic DNA isolation was extracted from human whole blood. Multiplex PCR reactions have been performed in a single reaction tube with six (6) primers, consisting of 2 common primers and 4 specific primers [2 - for each of 2 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites].
About half of the examined postmenopausal women were placed below average in the majority of the examined cognitive functions. The biggest impairments occurred in the field of processing speed, and the smallest - in the field of verbal and visual memory. Polymorphisms of APOE gene were considerably linked with the level of results of the majority of cognitive functions among postmenopausal women, as measured by battery of computer tests - CNS-VS. The presence of ε2/ε3 polymorphism of APOE gene impacted positively the obtained results of cognitive functions, whereas the presence of ε3/ε4, or ε4/ε4 polymorphisms worsened the obtained results.
载脂蛋白E（APOE）基因属于增加阿尔茨海默病（AD）发病风险的基因类别。本研究的目的是分析具有不同APOE基因多态性的绝经后女性的认知功能；采用了一系列计算机测试——中枢神经系统生命体征（CNS-VS）。
根据临床症状（末次月经后至少2年）以及促卵泡生成素（FSH）浓度，将这些女性纳入研究组。在入选阶段，进行了一项简短测试——蒙特利尔认知功能评估量表（MoCA）。使用诊断性CNS-生命体征设备对认知功能进行评估。从人全血中提取基因组DNA。在单个反应管中使用6种引物进行多重聚合酶链反应（PCR），其中包括2种通用引物和4种特异性引物[针对2个单核苷酸多态性（SNP）位点各2种]。
大约一半的受试绝经后女性在大多数受试认知功能方面低于平均水平。处理速度方面的损害最大，言语和视觉记忆方面的损害最小。通过一系列计算机测试——CNS-VS测量，APOE基因多态性与绝经后女性大多数认知功能的结果水平密切相关。APOE基因ε2/ε3多态性的存在对认知功能的获得结果有积极影响，而ε3/ε4或ε4/ε4多态性的存在则使获得的结果变差。
